" We stabilised the Wall’s degradation with software running on dumb machines,” she said. “But when Felka was born we found that she managed the task just as efficiently as the computers; in some ways better than they ever did. In fact, she seemed to thrive on it. It was as if in the Wall she found…” Galiana trailed off. “I was going to say a friend.” “Why don’t you?” “Because the Wall’s just a machine. Which means if Felka recognised kinship…what would that make her? "

― Alastair Reynolds , Beyond the Aquila Rift: The Best of Alastair Reynolds